Multi-faith Groups Call for Climate Action

June 28 saw hundreds of people of faith marched to St. Peter’s Square to express their gratitude to the Pope for the encyclical and to call on world leaders to produce an ambitious agreement in Paris later this year.

Holding up colourful banners and props, activists chanted “una terra, una famiglia umana” or “one earth, one human family” as they walked towards the Vatican. With marchers singing songs from their various religious traditions and even beating drums, the mood was celebratory, even festive. The crowd cheered when the Pope acknowledged their presence and subsequently called on people of different faiths to collaborate and promote an “integral ecology”, during the Sunday blessing. Integral ecology, a concept highlighted in the encyclical, situates human beings in the wider context of their relationship to the environment and with God.

Following the march, Yeb Saño, founder of the People’s Pilgrimage, led a group of 30 from different faiths around Rome to pray with their feet. Standing in front of the Great Synagogue of Rome, Jewish participants read out a prayer. “O source of light, by your light, we see light,” responded other participants. Muslim activists from Malaysia and Indonesia also embarked on a pilgrimage to the Mosque of Rome, many abstaining from food and water in this holy month of Ramadan. Muhammad Fathi Faruq from Malaysia said:

“To march for something as sacred as this brings more meaning to Ramadan for me.”

The encyclical has produced a sea change in the climate discourse. Donatella Bianchi, president of WWF Italy said: “The encyclical has transformed climate change from a scientific issue to a moral issue as well.” Many organisations are hopeful that this will provide an entry point for a different audience, not just the religious. Giuseppe Onufrio, the executive director of Greenpeace Italy said:

“We are going to the Pope for the first time. Although we are not a religious organisation, the message of the Pope is a universal one that brings everyone together.”

Activists are aware that the encyclical has to go beyond changing the hearts and minds of people, and also world leaders, to avert the climate crisis. Using the encyclical as a launchpad, activists are encouraging people to go beyond self-reflection to apply political pressure on their leaders for a fair, ambitious and legally-binding Paris agreement. The Pope himself will directly address world leaders at a summit on the Sustainable Development Goals in September.

Although the dust has barely settled from the release of the encyclical, religious groups are already building momentum and pushing forth with widespread educational efforts.

In the past week, Buddhists and Catholics from the United States and Italy met for an inter-religious dialogue, discussing the environment among other issues. In addition, grassroots activists are currently translating the encyclical from the eight languages into their native tongue. Yeb Saño said: “What’s so amazing about Laudato Si, is that it is written in very simple language.”

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has begun discussing the encyclical and parishes have inserts elements of the encyclical into homilies, exhorting congregations to take action on climate change. In the longer term, the encyclical is likely to be integrated into the curriculum of religious schools and will represent a fundamental shift in mindsets towards the environment.

However, many groups are calling for the Vatican to practice what it preaches with 350.org calling for the Vatican to divest its $8 billion portfolio in fossil fuels, a call strengthened by the Pope’s own words thatL “there is an urgent need to develop policies… for example, substituting for fossil fuels and developing sources of renewable energy.” Just five days after the release of the encyclical, the Lutheran World Federation announced its policy to not invest in fossil fuels, urging its member churches spread over 98 countries to follow suit. As an increasing number of religious groups divest, pressure continues to mount on the Vatican.

The encyclical is undoubtedly reinvigorating climate activism on the road to Paris. The strategic release of the encyclical during the unveiling of presidential candidates in the United States seeks to make climate change a voters’ issue, hoping to prevent a repeat of the limited discourse during the 2012 presidential elections. Similarly, the People’s Pilgrimage will carry the torch onwards from Rome to Paris in a 1,500 kilometre, 60 day walk to the Paris climate summit at the end November this year. They will carry the encyclical in hand as a symbolic gesture. Past pilgrimages taken by people across the globe include ones to distinctive sites torn by natural disasters such as Tacloban, Philippines which was hit by Typhoon Haiyan, as well as the Assisi, the birthplace of the St. Francis whose poem inspires the name of the encyclical, Laudato Si.

As the Catholic church uses the highest possible written platform to galvanise action, it can be assured that its actions reverberate throughout the earth. The march on Sunday visualised the human family coming together to celebrate energised discourse and anticipate the Paris agreement, which we all hope will be worth celebrating.